A question mark still hangs over whether former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife Khunying Potjaman will return to Thailand to face legal proceedings, with speculation rife the couple may seek asylum.
The People Power party is eyeing a couple of political parties as its potential new home in case the party is dissolved, said PPP registration officer Samarn Lertwongrat yesterday.
WEATHER
Heavy rain, forest runoff and mudslides caused by Depression Kammuri in upper Laos have ravaged several northern provinces of Thailand, submerging large areas of farmland and affecting hundreds of households. One resident in Chiang Rai's rural area was reported to have been swept away by runoff, and is feared dead.
BORDER DISPUTES
Thailand yesterday welcomed Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen's statement that the border disputes between the two countries need to be resolved through bilateral mechanisms. Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said the Cambodian leader's stance was in line with Thailand's as Bangkok also wished to find a solution to the Preah Vihear temple issue in a peaceful and amicable manner through bilateral mechanisms.
POLITICS
A new agency being set up to tackle graft in the state sector was further delayed yesterday when the Senate rejected the nominations of six members on the grounds they were not properly endorsed by the House of Representatives.
NARCOTICS TRADE
The anti-drug agency and police are gearing up to dismantle foreign-organised crime syndicates which have been controlling the trade in illicit drugs at some of Thailand's famous tourist destinations for years. Krissana Pol-anand, the secretary-general of the Office of the Narcotics Control Board (ONCB), said ONCB officials and drug suppression police were very concerned about the drug trade run by foreign businessmen in Phuket, Koh Samui and Pattaya.
POLITICS
The National Counter Corruption Commission yesterday filed a complaint with police against pro-government demonstrators who joined a series of rallies outside the NCCC headquarters and used abusive language against its members. In the complaint lodged by Chairat Khanitthabutr, a legal expert attached to the NCCC, the anti-graft agency accused the demonstrators, led by Somyos Prueksakasemsuk, of defaming state officials and illegal assembly.
MILITARY RESHUFFLE
Anupong Paojinda should remain in office as army commander-in-chief after the annual military reshuffle in October, according to Supreme Commander Boonsrang Niempradit. Gen Boonsrang made the remark yesterday when reporters asked for his comments on the military reshuffle which will take effect in October.
SOUTH
NARATHIWAT : Three students were seriously injured by stray bullets in a shooting at a motorcycle repair shop in Rangae district yesterday, local police said. Police said the shop was attacked by three hooded men armed with AK-47 assault rifles while the students were having a motorcycle fixed.
TECHNOLOGY
Provincial Police Region 7 officers who supervise the lower Central Plains have found a new way to track down criminals _ by using the mobile phone message system known as SMS. SMS exchanges identifying suspects and giving clues about crimes are being sent to police headquarters by officers and volunteers from the public in the field, and have led to the arrest of 900 suspects in a little more than one year.
A substandard compressed natural gas (CNG) cylinder in a bus exploded at a PTT gas station in Samut Prakan yesterday, wounding a staff member and damaging seven other vehicles. Locally, CNG is sold as natural gas for vehicles (NGV) by PTT Plc.
THAI-US TRADE TALKS
Bilateral trade talks between Thailand and the United States could hamper public access to essential drugs, the opposition Democrat party warns. Buranaj Smutharaks, deputy health minister of the opposition's shadow cabinet, yesterday met Public Health Minister Chavarat Charnveerakul, to voice concerns over the possible negative impact of Thai-US trade negotiations on public access to life-saving medicines.
PostBag
So Thaksin says he will be back. But for such a serious case, why is he being allowed out of the country in the first place?
EDITORIAL
No doubt there are several good reasons behind army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda's announcement that the military fully supports the government's plan to build a new parliament in Dusit district's Kiakkai area.
COMMENTARY
As John Lennon judiciously put it: "Time wounds all heels."
THAI POLITICS
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej's idea of amending Article 63 followed by a proposed draft bill to control public demonstrations may have been put on hold for now, but they are like a time bomb which could be reactivated to explode any time.
IN Print
Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej was the subject of a Thai Rath editorial criticism again after he remarked that the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) opposed the government's effort to amend the constitution because the PAD feared the government would amend Article 63, which guarantees the right of peaceful assembly. He also accused the coup's Constitution Drafting Assembly of including Article 63 in this constitution to destroy the country.
@THAILAND
Huay Kha Kaeng wildlife sanctuary is one of the few remaining locations for wild tigers and it is attracting international efforts to study close-up the endangered animals' life cycle and determine how rapidly its population is dwindling.
@THAILAND
HUAY KHA KAENG, UTHAI THANI : Tigers are driven to the brink of extinction as their food is hunted and their land taken away by humans, according to experts.
IN BRIEF
MALPRACTICE / A panel has found there are grounds to allegations of malpractice against former national police chief Sereepisut Taemeeyaves over the rental of vehicles for police use worth 5.9 billion baht, using inappropriate words when scolding subordinates and the unlawful transfer of police colonels.
